Not Who They Think We Are
by Kat Nikolaevsky
Summary: A Clato story about the real kids behind the bloodthirsty monsters. The kids who are scared, and just kids. T for now, because this is the Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1

**I know this has been done before, but I seriously cannot describe in words how much I LOVE Clato! They're definitely my two favorite characters in the first movie and I wish they would've won the Hunger Games. And maybe this will turn into a story about that… I'm not really sure yet. Anyway, Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, nor Clove and Cato. Suzanne Collins does. Don't sue me unless you're thinking you'll make a fortune off of pocket lint.**

Cato:

Tomorrow was the day.

Tomorrow, would be the day I would start the Games. And I was scared shitless.

Everybody knows that I talk the big talk about being prepared and ready to win these things, but I'm not. Who the hell can be prepared to go into an arena full of people who, under different circumstances, might be your friends, but have to kill them? I don't think even the sickest person could be. I'm not. And most of Panem thinks that I'm some ruthless killer, which hopefully I'll become tomorrow.

The Capitol is a madhouse tonight. People scream, lights blast, and music plays as they celebrate the opening of the 74th Hunger Games. Everyone in this city is raving madly; everyone except 24 kids who aren't sure whether this will be the last night they ever see.

The door to my lavish room opens, and I get ready to scream at a nosy Avox until I realize it's Clove. She stands in the doorway, just staring at me for a long time, until I sit up in my bed and she timidly makes her way over.

"What?" I try to sound bitter, but it doesn't work, because Clove looks terrified. "What's wrong?" I ask again, softer this time. She perches on the edge of my bed and continues to stare. Her eyes are uneasy, and when she finally speaks she almost chokes on the words.

"I'm scared."

"Me too." I admit, because it's no use trying to deny it now. To everyone else, Clove and I are just careers. To get sponsors and win, we have to be confident for everyone. Except eachother.

The first time I met Clove was when I was younger and first started my serious training. We became an odd pair. When we weren't practicing to kill each other, we talked. And she was the first person I felt like I could be real. It all started the year that Clove got reaped, it was her first year, and everyone knew one of the older kids would volunteer for her, but later she admitted to me that in that moment, her heart had stopped and she was more scared than she'd even been in her entire life. And then I realized that I was scared too, but not for myself. For her.

Several years later, she got picked again **(Ok, not sure if this can actually happen but for the sake of this story it can)** and that was the year I volunteered. Not for me. Not to win. But for her.

I felt Clove's hand on mine and it snapped me back to reality. Tears were in her eyes, and just as one spilled over I wiped it away with my finger. "Shh." I whispered softly. "It's gonna be ok. You'll be fine. We can do this- we've been training forever."

Clove shook her head. "What if I die?"

"Don't talk like that!" I demanded. "You won't!"

"One of us has to."

I didn't want to think about that. I didn't want to think about the possibility that maybe, it would come down to just me and her. I couldn't think about it. So without another word, I leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. It was the first time I'd ever kissed her. She seemed startled at first, but slowly she returned the kiss. And it wasn't until she was lying on top of me that she finally pulled back.

We didn't say a word after that. I just wrapped my arms around her and tried to hang onto the moment. Because tomorrow, these people would be gone. And we would turn into the killers everyone expected us to be.

**So that's the first chapter! I know its short but there will be more. I just always imagined Cato and Clove not really being the sick bloodthirsty people everyone thought they were. So tell me what you think!**

**Kat**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games.**

Clove:

Morning comes far too quickly for my taste. I have to wake up earlier than everyone else so I can sneak back to my room. I don't want to leave Cato's arms. They're so strong, so safe. But suddenly, a thought rushes through my mind: In hours, these arms will be ending lives.

That thought makes me wiggle a little harder out of his grasp. His eyes open, but his face remains expressionless. He doesn't smile, or kiss my cheek, or anything he would have done last night. Because it is not last night. It is today, the day we will enter the arena.

I slip out of his room silently and hurry gingerly back to mine. It's just in time, too, because not even 5 seconds after I jump into my bed and try to make it look slept in, my prep team bursts through the door to start work on me.

The next hour or so is a blur. I'm lost in my thoughts that continue to wander wildly- mainly about the Games and Cato. But I shake my head. I can't think of Cato now. We're going to be allies at first and that's all that matters. That's all that I allow myself to think about.

But then… Has he considered the possibility that we might be the final 2? It's crossed my mind ever since the reaping. The thought picks at me and haunts my dreams. Dreams of my knives stabbing into his heart as I kiss him on the cheek.

There's the Clove everyone knows, or at least, they think they know. She's the sick, sadistic, and maybe even psychotic killer from District 2. That's the girl I will be in the arena and the girl I must be to win. Even if it means killing everyone, even Cato.

I continue to repeat these thoughts to myself as I board the hovercraft. As my stylist gives me the finishing touches in the space below the arena. And especially as I'm in the clear tube that suddenly begins to rise into the clearing.

My heart is pounding so loud that I want to scream, but I won't because now I'm above the ground in the arena, and the cameras are watching me. So I simply squint into the bright light and try to get my bearings. Cato is on the pedestal a few yards from mine. The cornucopia glints in the center of all the tributes, a plethora of useful objects practically spilling from it. My eyes spot a large, open case of knives, and I give a smirk, my feet twitching in anticipation. Now is my moment.

_5, 4, 3, 2, 1_

The gong sounds and I tear towards the knives. Someone is coming up behind me, but the blade is already in my hand and as they get close enough I only give a quick glance before chucking my weapon. It finds it's mark, and the boy goes down with blood spilling from his chest. I snatch all the knives, rip the one out of my victim, and look around. Cato has found a sword and I catch a glimpse of him finishing off a blonde girl. He flashes me a smile, as if saying this is way too easy.

I look for my next target. The girl from 12 is making a mad dash to a backpack. I almost laugh as I take off towards her, a knife ready in my hand. But she sees me and lifts up the bright orange pack as she sprints away. My knife lodges in it, and I curse. She's too far away now, and she has one of my knives.

Almost all the tributes have cleared out by now. Another girl is trying to get away with a bag of apples in her hand, but she trips over a body and sprawls onto the ground. Before she gets up, I'm already stepping over her, and she lets out a cry of pure anguish as I slit her throat open. Someone is behind me and I spin around, but it's Cato, who is giving me a sick smile.

"Well done," he nods.

Behind him stand the two idiots from 1, the girl from 4, boy from 3 and… the boy from 12? My brows furrow as I stare at him. Cato notices my expression, glances back at the boy, and whispers, "It's the only way we'll find the Girl on Fire."

I smile back at him, catching on. We use Lover Boy as bait for his girlfriend. Brilliant.

A lot of supplies have been left back at the cornucopia, and I hear the boy from 3 mumbling something about mines… I don't pay much attention as every else begins to stack things up in a big pile. I'm lost in my own thoughts, so I try to make myself busy by cleaning blood off my knives.

We decide to hunt by night, because it will be easier. The boy from 3 is left to guard our supplies while the rest of us go looking for other tributes. We all practically cheer with victory when we see smoke rising up from a section of the woods where some idiot has lit a fire. As we make our way towards them, I notice that the bubble headed girl- Glimmer- from 1 is being especially friendly to Cato. I try to ignore it, but she's just so… stupid! And annoying. But what else can be expected from someone named Glimmer? Her flirting with him is so painfully obvious that her district partner looks about as ready to strangle her as I am. But we don't get the chance, because we're almost to the fire. A shivering girl is sitting beside it, and tears run down her cheeks.

I try not to look as Cato's sword find her and she gives a blood curdling shriek. I'm not supposed to be like this. Compassionate and all. I'm not supposed to care who dies. I continue telling myself this as we walk back to camp and rest.

I'm not supposed to care.

I'm not supposed to care about anyone.

I'm not supposed to care about Cato.

And then, the most difficult one: I'm going to have to kill Cato.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. The. Hunger. Games. Suzanne Collins does cause she's brilliant.**

**Also, I've added three chapters today but this probably won't be a regular occurance because I've been sick today so I had nothing else to do, but I'll try to do atleast 1 chapter per day until I finish the story! And also, the story line will start changing soon. I promise!**

**Also, a big THANK YOU to everyone following! Please review and let me know what you think!**

Cato:

I race through the arena. I've been counting the canons, and so far… 22 blasts. They all came and woke me from my sleep. I run and scream for Clove, hoping that her canon hasn't gone off.

I reach the cornucopia. Bodies are lying everywhere. 22 bodies, all with the same knife wounds carved into them. I hear a laugh and whirl around. Clove stands behind me, and she's covered in blood while laughing like a mad woman. In each hand she has a knife, and she's coming towards me step by step with a wild grin on her face.

"Clove?" I ask, stepping backwards. But I trip over a body- the body of the Girl on Fire. Her eyes are gone, they've been cut out, and her mouth is twisted in a grueling, screaming position. "Run," she says. "Run!" And suddenly she gets up and stands right over me. The other fallen tributes follow suit, all forming a circle around me.

"Run. Run. Run."

But I can't run. They've all closed in on me and the small gap has been filled by Clove, getting closer and closer with the knives still in her hands. And then, suddenly, I have a sword in mine. I stand up, and with a raging scream, slice the blade through the air.

And Clove's head rolls to the ground.

I wake up covered in sweat and screaming. Glimmer, who was resting half on top of me, jumps and screams, too. Clove and Marvel, and the two others groggily glare over at us. Glimmer gives me an uneasy look, like she's not sure whether I'm sane or not, but she shakes her head and lies back down.

I decide to take a walk on my own. I head down to the stream and wash the sweat off my face. The nightmare I had wouldn't have bothered me so much, if it hadn't been so realistic. The part about the dead tributes coming back was a bit extreme, but Clove and I trying to kill each other… That was plausible. Scary plausible. Clove and I were obviously the most serious threats in this game, besides the district 12 girl, but we could easily take her out since she didn't have any weapons.

I heard footsteps in the rocks behind me, and Clove plopped down beside me. We both stared at out reflections in the water for a few minutes.

"I had a dream about it, too," she admitted. It didn't surprise me that she knew what I'd been screaming about- I had suspected that she'd been scared of the same thing as me.

"It might not happen, you know," Clove was obviously choosing her words so the people watching would have no clue what she was talking about.

"But it might," I stated. And she nodded. "Yes, it might."

We sat in silence for a long time. There was nothing for us to say, nothing that we could say in front of the cameras that were surely watching us.

Clove opened her mouth to speak but Glimmer's voice called to us. Well, to me. "Cato! Catooo?"

She was getting closer, and as she approached, Clove rolled her eyes. I gave her a subtle wink before going to find Glimmer. Sure, Glimmer was hot. She was definitely hot. But she had nothing going on inside her head, that's for sure. She wasn't nearly as interesting as Clove.

We start looking for the girl from 12 again, and Lover Boy doesn't prove too useful.

"Look!" I hear Clove shout, and we all look towards the horizon to see the giant billows of smoke coming from the forest.

"They set it on fire," I mutter. The Game Makers must be planning something- but what? "C'mon!" I saw, racing towards the fire. As we get closer, suddenly the flames are gone. But just as they diminish, District 12 bursts through the trees, still running. She freezes as she sees me, then makes a sharp turn and flees. But I'm right behind her.

She does have enough distance, however, to scale a large tree before I can catch her. By now the others have caught up with me and are jeering at the Girl on Fire.

"She's mine!" I announce, and begin scaling the tree as the others circle around the base of it like a pack of dogs, yelling and calling for blood. "Kill her, Cato! Kill her!" Clove snarls.

This was one thing I'd never trained for, climbing trees. But how hard could it be?

I soon realize that it's about as hard as the ground is when I loose my footing and fell about ten feet flat on my back.

We try shooting some arrows at her, but that doesn't work either since Glimmer is definitely not handy with a bow.

"We can just wait her out. She'll have to come down eventually, we can just kill her then." Lover Boy suggests, and we decide that he has a point. Although, I'm still not totally convinced whether or not he said it so we would save our energy, or to spare his girlfriend. Either way, we make camp at the base of the tree and wait.

I see Clove sneak off, and I want to follow her, but I don't, because there's nothing that I can do now. There's nothing I can say. I am Cato now. Cato, the bloodthirsty killer. I'm not Cato, the guy who's scared out of his mind of not winning. I'm not the Cato who kissed her so tenderly and held her through the night.

That Cato is gone. That Cato will never come back.


End file.
